Supplier Quality Engineer

Supplier Quality Engineer – Defence / Aerospace UK | Hybrid / On-site (London) | Supplier Travel Required We’re working with a rapidly growing European defence technology company developing some of the most advanced high-speed flight systems currently being built in Europe. The business has already taken clean-sheet technology from concept through to successful flight testing at Mach 6+ in under a year and is now scaling the industrial and supplier capability required to turn breakthrough engineering into repeatable, flight-ready hardware. As part of that growth, they’re looking for a Supplier Quality Engineer to take real ownership of supplier quality across a technically demanding UK and European supply chain. This is not a paperwork-heavy quality role. You’ll be working directly with engineering, manufacturing, procurement and suppliers, making sure complex hardware is manufactured correctly, properly evidenced, fully traceable and ready for use in safety-critical defence applications. The Role You’ll work across suppliers manufacturing complex mechanical, metallic, electronic, composite and flight-critical components. Your focus will be making sure suppliers can consistently deliver the right parts, to the right specification, with the right processes, inspection evidence and traceability behind them. You’ll be involved across the full supplier lifecycle, from initial assessment and qualification through to production readiness, supplier development and problem resolution. Responsibilities include: Owning supplier quality activity across assigned suppliers and programmesAssessing and qualifying new suppliers alongside engineering and procurementReviewing supplier capability against drawings, specifications and production requirementsSupporting supplier onboarding and quality requirement flow-downLeading and supporting First Article Inspection / AS9102 activityReviewing Certificates of Conformity, inspection records, material certificates, special process evidence and traceability documentationManaging supplier NCRs, SCARs, CAPA and corrective actionsRunning root cause investigations using tools such as 8D, 5 Why and FishboneImproving supplier process capability, right-first-time performance and documentation standardsSupporting incoming inspection and supplier release strategyWorking directly with engineering to resolve tolerance, drawing, manufacturability and requirement issuesSupporting MRB, concession and deviation processesAuditing supplier facilities and assessing manufacturing capabilityVisiting suppliers to investigate issues and drive recovery plansHelping build a scalable supplier quality system aligned with AS9100 What We’re Looking For You must come from a technically demanding hardware environment such as: Defence | Aerospace | Space | Missiles | Propulsion You should have experience dealing directly with suppliers and solving real manufacturing and quality problems. We’re particularly interested in people who have experience with: Supplier Quality Engineering / Supplier DevelopmentFirst Article Inspection and AS9102AS9100, ISO 9001, AQAP or similar standardsSupplier auditing and qualificationNCR / SCAR / CAPA processesRoot cause and corrective actionTechnical drawings and engineering specificationsMaterial and component traceabilitySpecial processes and inspection planningConfiguration controlMachined and fabricated componentsElectronics and harnessesCompositesAdditive manufacturingComplex mechanical or propulsion-related hardware Most importantly, you need to be comfortable getting close to the hardware and challenging suppliers when the process, evidence or manufacturing capability isn’t good enough. Why Join? This is an opportunity to join a highly ambitious engineering organisation at a genuinely exciting stage of growth. You’ll get: Significant ownership from day oneExposure to genuinely cutting-edge defence and aerospace technologyThe opportunity to influence supplier strategy rather than inherit a finished systemDirect access to engineering, manufacturing, procurement and programme leadershipThe chance to help build the supplier quality function as the company scalesA fast-moving environment without the bureaucracy of a traditional aerospace primeExposure to complex, flight-critical hardware and some of the most technically challenging engineering programmes in Europe The company operates more like an elite engineering startup than a traditional defence organisation - high ownership, fast decision-making and a strong bias towards getting hardware built, tested and flying. Location London based, with regular on-site presence and supplier travel required. This is a hands-on engineering role and will suit someone who wants to stay close to the hardware, suppliers and manufacturing decisions rather than operate remotely from spreadsheets and scorecards.